Brothers Magomedovs want to get out of prison

The head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Alexander Shokhin, asks Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika and. about. head of the Interior Ministry Vladimir Kolokoltsev to mitigate the measure of restraint to the brothers Magomedov, who since March 31 are under arrest. Mr. Shokhin insists that the accusation of entrepreneurs in organizing a criminal community is questionable and can become a threatening precedent for Russian business. Lawyers agree that the wording of the legislation is blurred enough and it is difficult to understand "where the development of business ends and the creation of a criminal community begins."

As it became known to Kommersant, on May 7, the head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Alexander Shokhin, asked Prosecutor General Yury Chaika to verify the legality and validity of initiating a criminal case against the Magomedov brothers on charges of organizing a criminal association (FSO, Part 1, Article 210 of the Criminal Code). In a letter (a copy is from Kommersant), Mr. Shokhin asks to change the measure of restraint to businessmen "to a softer", not connected with the arrest. According to "Kommersant", a similar appeal was sent and. about. head of the Interior Ministry Vladimir Kolokoltsev.

In the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the Prosecutor General's Office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, they did not respond to a request from Kommersant. The "Sum" group was informed that they know about these letters.

The owner of the Suma group Ziyavudin Magomedov and his brother Magomed were detained at the end of March on suspicion of a particularly large embezzlement and fraud, as well as the FSO. The defense offered a pledge of 2.5 billion rubles, commensurate with the amount of damage, but both businessmen were arrested for two months until 30 May. Last week, Magomedov's brothers were charged with all three articles, Magomed was also accused of illegal arms trafficking.

In the letter of Alexander Shokhin it is said that the vague formulations of Art. 210 allow any commercial organization to be regarded as a criminal community and thereby additionally blame its leaders in addition to economic crimes in particularly serious cases.

According to the head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, a precedent is being created that can be used "to artificially increase the accusation." Use art. 210 for the arrest of entrepreneurs aggravates the situation of the business community and contradicts the instructions of the president, said Alexander Shokhin. In addition, this kind of harassment increases business distrust to the state and uncertainty for investors, which will adversely affect the period of sanctions pressure on Russian companies, the letter says. Also, Alexander Shokhin expresses doubts that the "Summa" group was created to commit crimes, which, in his opinion, is confirmed by state awards and various letters of thanks.

The paradox is that the definition of a criminal community and a legal entity is very similar in legislation, says Rustam Kurmaev, managing partner of Rustam Kurmaev and Partners. In Art. 210 of the Criminal Code states that a criminal community is an organization created to commit crimes, which can have a complex structure, while its goal is to extract benefits. In Art. 48 of the Civil Code, which contains the definition of the legal entity, states that this is also an organization, with property, structure and management bodies, which is created for the same purpose - for profit, Mr. Kurmaev notes. "To understand where the development of business ends and the creation of a criminal community begins is in fact very difficult," concludes the lawyer.

He notes that in practice Art. 210 are used together with Art. 159 (fraud) for solving procedural tasks. "Creation of a criminal community is a particularly serious crime, and the investigation can last not 12, but 18 months, in addition, the measure of restraint changes from house arrest to detention. In practice, the charges under Art. 210 then fall off, "says the lawyer. He also adds that the choice for the Magomedov preventive measure in the form of arrest contradicts the unspoken practice in the proceedings against large entrepreneurs, since house arrest is usually used.